If you ever code something that "feels like a hack but it works," just remember that a CPU is literally a rock that we tricked into thinking.<p>Not to oversimplify: first you have to flatten the rock and put lightning inside it.<p>Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/daisyowl/status/841802094361235456" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/daisyowl/status/841802094361235456</a>
It'd be really awesome if microprocessors, even at a low-end process node like 130 nm, could be made with room-sized machines or smaller. There's a lot of space for companies wanted to manufacture their own MCUs, for instance, without relying on massive supply chains.<p>I think this'll happen at some point, as silicon manufacturing hits final roadblocks and becomes increasingly commoditized, but it'd be nice if it were sooner rather than later.<p>(This would be nice for self-sufficient decentralized communities being able to produce their own microelectronics as well.)
Circuit designer here - feel free to ask any questions about the manufacturing process, design etc.<p>Having a thorough understanding of the process, I thought this was hilarious. But if you really want to understand the process, it's pretty terrible. It spends 10 steps on making a wafer, and then the bulk of the actual process is condensed to 16.
I recall there being a game mentioned somewhere here on HN, where you start with basic logic gates (I think), and you build up a fundamental CPU at the end of the game, using the parts you discovered along the way.<p>Problem is, I don't remember what the game is called, and no amount of searching seems to help me. Anyone know what it was called?
I've always been curious how someone gets into this line of work. Is it all via college / post education and your directly recruited by these companies? Obviously, this is a very hard (impossible?) thing to teach yourself. I can't imagine more than a few universities offer this type of education? Where would you start / what path would you go down to be a chip designer / work for an Intel / AMD ???
If you're into this, Huygens Optics has an awesome series where he builds a wafer stepper at home. His is a little less advanced than Sam Zeloofs but the videos are way better -- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w0Z2Y5vaAQ" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w0Z2Y5vaAQ</a>
The hilarity illustrates an important point. We never just make a thing. A recipe or blueprint is a convenient fiction. Rather we participate in a dynamic evolving process which itself evolved through many cycles of copying, repetition and debugging. Even the first version wasn't strictly original because the idea was borrowed from elsewhere. 'Oh you work at the olive press. How would you like a job with this new-fangled printing machine?' And so on back to the initial and highly controversial creation of the Universe.
For a real case of someone making integrated circuits at home, this boy did it: <a href="http://sam.zeloof.xyz/" rel="nofollow">http://sam.zeloof.xyz/</a> for real.
As a film photography enthusiast, I love the parallels between making a chip and film development. I wonder if film developing was the original inspiration
Here's how you make a vacuum tube:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzyXMEpq4qw" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzyXMEpq4qw</a>
I found this absolutely hilarious and I’m not entirely sure why, just the tone of the instructions as if it’s an ordinary thing to make in an afternoon. Brilliant.
The article doesn't correspond to reality.<p>>3) Now you have 98% concentrated silicon dioxide. Purify it to 99.9% pure silicon dioxide.<p>>4) Purify it further to 99.9999999% polysilicon metal.<p>>While cutting-edge nanometer scale features are not likely to be accessible for a hobbyist, micron-scale amateur chip fabrication does appear to be quite feasible. I have not tried this myself, but Sam Zeloof has, and you should definitely check out his YouTube channel. I think you could probably even build some basic chips with far less equipment than he has if you get the optics right. You could probably make it a hobby business selling cusom chips to other tech people!<p>>A Word Of Caution: In case it wasn't already clear, I don't advise that anyone actually attempt making integrated circuits in their apartment in the manner shown in this video. The 'photoresist' and 'developer solution' in this video is just a colored prop. The real chemicals are usually hazardous and you should only work with them with proper safety gear in a well ventilated area or in a fume hood.<p>Its outdated and in reality you would go to Shenzhen or use a custom fab to make custom designed chips with raw materials sourced from special exotic materials that only make sense for scaled operation.<p>I highlighted the steps 3 and 4 because its not how its done at all. High grade silicon is obtained in a pure state and doped for the chips rather than obtaining random types and refining them.<p>Its not even easy compared to homemade nuclear reactors, which need a lot of natural sources of uranium to enrich but can be done, the refinement is more related to older germanium chips.
For those who wants more, the wikipedia article on semiconductor manufacturing is actually pretty good: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_device_fabrication" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_device_fabricati...</a>
It’s really really fun doing this in software. You should try it.<p>Fetch decode execute cycle. Registers. Memory. An instruction set. An assembler. And plug it all into an emulator to watch your factorial(n) at work!<p>Here’s one someone else made earlier:<p><a href="https://www.peterhigginson.co.uk/AQA/" rel="nofollow">https://www.peterhigginson.co.uk/AQA/</a><p>It’s rubbish. So is yours, but you’ve got to build it first before you can brag.
Mentioned a couple other times in this thread but I don't think anyone has linked Sam Zeloof's video of essentially doing this: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS5ycm7VfXg" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS5ycm7VfXg</a><p>It's fantastic and I highly recommend watching it.
So if I somehow time travelled to ~1800 there's no way I'm making my own modern computer ?!<p>Jokes aside, its fascinating to see how complex computers are under the many layers of abstraction that we've built on top of them.
More info on homemade raw sources and processes:<p><a href="https://simplifier.neocities.org/" rel="nofollow">https://simplifier.neocities.org/</a>
I was successfully able to follow step 1 and 2. Grab a rock. Crush a rock. Easy peasy.<p>Gave up on step 3: purify. Glad I did: each step after got more and more ridiculous.